


All I Want for Christmas (is A Puppy for My Baby)

by wintermute



Series: Charlie!verse [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Kidfic, M/M, Puppies, domestic AU, surprise proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-03-01 16:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2780510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintermute/pseuds/wintermute
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas parties are meant for mingling, but Phil takes a trip down memory lane instead. Puppies and proposals just kind of happened, but Phil's pretty okay with that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All I Want for Christmas (is A Puppy for My Baby)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crayyyonn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayyyonn/gifts).



> Written for the C/C Holiday Exchange
> 
> I'll eventually write the prequel to this... because babies!
> 
> A million thanks to SomebodyOwens for betaing this <3

Phil watched from across the dining room, smiling widely at Clint chatting happily with Skye, the young computer tech the precinct had hired, and FitzSimmons, the forensic team who were practically joined at the hip. He gave half a thought to intervening so FitzSimmons wouldn’t cajole his boyfriend into experimenting with his bow before deciding that it was Christmas, and he really shouldn’t be thinking about work even though they were at a work party.

It was a week before Christmas, and Jasper had invited everyone to his place for a get together, since some were leaving soon to visit family.

Not Phil, though. Not this year.

Prior to meeting Clint, Phil’d always been one to try and get at least a couple of days off before the holidays to visit his sister Elaine upstate, but since he’d moved in with Clint this past year, Elaine had decided to come visit him instead. She’d be arriving with her own brood in two days.

Charlie was going to be so excited to have kids to play with, Phil turned his attention to the boy who was playing in one corner of the living room with all the other young kids.

What a difference a couple of years made.

Three years ago he’d been the few people who’d normally volunteered for the Christmas shifts so other people could be with their families. Now, he had one of his own and no words could describe the love he had for Clint and Charlie—his family.

~*~

Phil met Clint on Christmas Eve.

Phil had volunteered yet again for the Christmas shifts when the call had come in about a robbery homicide. Thinking back, it was almost cliche, the way that Phil the cop fell for Clint the potential witness.

All Phil remembered from that first meeting was thinking that the man was gorgeous, with those arms, and oh God his eyes were mesmerizing. It took many glares and sharp elbows from Maria and all of the self-control he’d learned in the Army to finish the interview without making a fool of himself.

It didn’t stop him from ogling the man the entire time, much to Maria’s chagrin.

Maria gave him the biggest eye roll when he volunteered to give Clint a lift home so he could relieve his babysitter. It had been one hell of a disappointment to find out that Clint had a kid at home though; of course a gorgeous guy like him would be straight and taken.

It wasn’t until a few weeks later that Phil saw Clint again. It’d been late enough that most restaurants had closed for the day, and Phil had stopped at the first diner that was still open. He hadn’t realized it was Clint’s place until the man greeted him with a “hello, Detective.”

Phil had known how disheveled he must’ve looked, but Clint merely gave him a soft smile and poured him a cup of the best coffee Phil’d had all day, and then brought out the best damn meatloaf Phil’d ever tasted in his life. Phil’d known right then and there that he was in love, despite the fact that he knew the feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated.

After that night, Phil became a regular, especially those late nights when he needed something to pick him up, and it was over those late nights that he’d learned more about the man he’d fallen for. They chatted over comfort food about Clint’s ex-wife, who passed away and left him with Charlie, about Phil’s Army career, about how Clint had been an Olympic hopeful until the responsibility of fatherhood fell on his lap.

It took a whole two months, enough teasing to last a lifetime from Jasper, Maria _and_ Melinda, and Clint’s best friend Natasha giving him the most terrifying intervention-slash-shovel-talk of his life before Phil finally got up the courage to ask Clint out on a date.

The way Clint’s eyes had widened with hope before he’d pulled Phil into a heated kiss had made Phil wonder if he should’ve said something earlier.

~*~

“Hey, whatcha thinking?” Clint said softly as he wrapped an arm around Phil’s waist. “Don’t give me that look, you’ve got your think-y face on.”

“My think-y face?” Phil turned to give Clint a quick peck on the lips as he shifted to let Clint snuggle close.

“Uh-huh. You’ve got that little frown thing going on on your face.” Clint reached up to poke at Phil’s forehead. “You get this little wrinkle above your eye when you're lost in your memories.”

Phil huffed. It was amazing how Clint could read him so well. “Just thinking about us.”

“That’s… ominous?” Clint said, munching on a carrot stick. “Wanna share?”

“Remember our first date?”

Clint chuckled. “How could I forget? There I was, all dressed up and ready to bring Charlie over to Mrs. Barnes across the hall when he threw up all over me. It was a disaster!”

“The best kind of disaster, though.” Phil said, as he hugged Clint close and buried his face into Clint’s shoulder, nuzzling against the soft sweater he wore. “I love you.”

“I love you too, you sap.” Clint turned slightly so he could kiss Phil’s face. “You know that was the thing that made me fall in love with you, right?”

“Really?”

Clint nodded. “You didn’t even say anything when I apologized. You just came in and started helping me clean. I was freaking out about Charlie being sick and you… you were a rock when I needed one.”

Phil could feel himself blush. “I had a lot of experiences with babies.”

“Who would’ve thought that badass Detective Coulson is really a supernanny,” Clint teased.

Phil rolled his eyes and didn’t dignify that with a response.

They’d had more dates after that disastrous first. It was a little rocky at the beginning, what with Phil’s crazy work schedule and Clint’s reluctance to go further than dating, afraid that Charlie would get too attached when it inevitably fell apart, but they made it work. They were happy.

Phil thought about the little box that he had tucked away in his desk at the precinct. He felt nervous, thinking that it might be too soon, even if Natasha already gave him her blessing.

“Where did Charlie go?” Clint’s question pulled Phil from his thoughts, and he looked up at the playpen, only to find Charlie missing.

“He was there, I’ve been keeping an eye on him all night.”

Phil frowned, before turning to look in the dining room and kitchen while Clint went into the living room.

“Hey, you guys seen Charlie?” Phil asked Jasper, who was chatting with Maria in the kitchen. Jasper and Maria both shook their heads.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Me neither. Have you checked the laundry room? Jasper kept the dogs in there. Maybe he went looking?”

Charlie had been awfully excited about Jasper’s dogs when they first arrived, and had nearly thrown a tantrum when he wasn’t allowed to play with them. It took both of them _and_ the sight of toys and other kids to persuade Charlie to calm down. Phil sighed, but thanked them anyway before heading further into the more deserted part of the house. “Charlie? Buddy?”

A soft whine came from the laundry room, where the overhead light cast a warm, yellow glow over everything. Phil ventured into the space to find one of Jasper’s golden retrievers curled up next to a laundry basket.

A laundry basket full of the litter of puppies the dogs just had a month ago.

And one Charlie Barton snuggled in the pile.

Phil couldn’t help chuckling at the sight. He pulled out his phone and took a picture before sending it to Clint, with a message of “laundry room” attached.

It took a couple of minutes for Clint to find them, his face a mixture of concern and amusement. Phil wrapped himself around Clint, who was still tense from worry, resting his chin on Clint’s shoulder.

“I should’ve known,” Clint said, letting out a long sigh with relief that dissolved into a chuckle. He melted against Phil’s embrace and let Phil take some of his weight. “He was so excited when he saw the puppies on our way in.”

Phil hummed against Clint’s neck, swaying lightly as they watched Charlie doze. “I was thinking…” Phil began, then stopped, swallowing before he continued. “I know we already got him those books for Christmas, but Jasper’s been looking for people to take at least a few of the puppies…”

Clint twisted his head around to stare at Phil. “You’re not thinking…”

“Our place is large enough.” Phil shrugged. “It’ll make Charlie happy.”

Clint just kept staring at him.

“Or not, if you don’t think it’s—” Phil’s back-paddling was suddenly cut off by a pair of soft lips sealing over his, and a demanding tongue that was doing its best to make Phil lose his ability to think straight. “You like that idea, huh?”

“Stop being obtuse,” Clint said, kissing him chastely once more. “God, I love you, you dork.”

Phil grinned.

“Look at us two, living in a two bedroom with a kid and getting a dog like a married couple—” Phil tensed at Clint’s words. “Baby? What is it?”

Phil breathed in deeply before letting it out in a chuckle. “Oh God. I had this all planned out for New Years but…” He looked at Clint and the way his eyebrows furled in a frown.

“Phil?”

Phil pulled back just enough so he could kneel down on one knee, and stared at Clint’s hands in his. “I had this whole speech planned, with dinner and candles and everything. Elaine was going to take the kids for the night…” Phil looked up. “Clint Barton, I’ve been in love with you since the day I found my way to your diner. I love you so much, I can’t imagine living a life without you and Charlie in it. I promise that I will always be there for you and Charlie, and you know I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

He pulled Clint’s hands up and pressed his lips to them, smiling at the hitch in Clint’s breath. “Will you marry me?”

Phil could see the joy in Clint’s eyes and the way he was biting on his lower lip, trying not to grin.

“Your delivery needs work. I mean, laundry room? Really, Phil?” Clint said finally, pulling Phil to his feet. “But yes! Of course I’ll marry you.”

Phil let out the shuddering breath he didn’t know he was holding and wrapped his arms around his fiancé in a tight hug. “God, I love you. I was going to wait, but Natasha kept telling me to just do it already. The ring’s in my desk drawer—”

“Phil.” Clint pressed his finger against Phil’s lips, stopping the deluge of words that was pouring out with Phil’s nerves. “Shut up and kiss me.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me here: http://thisiswintermute.tumblr.com/


End file.
